Falls On Me
by ghostleaf
Summary: The Youkai have taken over the world, and the last human resistances are depending on the spy Kagome to get all knowledge she can from Lord Sesshoumaru in the form of his servant. (Fixed the paragraphs.)
1. Fall of Lights

I know, I know, another fic, shoot me. But I can't help it. X3 I promise to verily try my darnedest to finish this sucker, alright? I promise!  
  
Summary: The Youkai and humans are constantly at odds with each other, and the devastation of the last war leaves the humans as little more but slaves to the stronger species. Kagome is a top-notch spy to the human Rebel army, and her latest mission could prove her deadliest. (Sess/Kag) Rated R for language, gore, and most likely lemon-ish tendencies.  
  
Falls On Me  
  
Prologue: Fall of Lights  
  
The echoes never ceased to taunt me; they reverberated about inside my ribcage, like a hunger that wouldn't stop gnawing. They had plagued me since that day, at the eclipse of the War.  
  
The echoes of pain long since past.  
  
==============================================  
  
The Youkai had always been present, but their activity in the government was kept carefully under wraps until about 2011. The civilian Youkai had just learned to adapt, to blend their differences in with their human counterparts and walk amongst them with ease.  
  
About a decade after the turn of the century, they could not be hidden any longer. To mollify the outraged shock of the public, the government pretended nonchalance as they formed specialized communities for the Youkai, giving new meaning to the "wrong side of the tracks." Once upon a time these communities had been well-tended, perfectly acceptable suburban ideals of living. After a time, however, the humans running the mini- governments of these areas gradually stopped caring as their minds fled to the forgiveness of alcohol and mindless pleasure. The Youkai Districts became the modern "ghetto," their brick buildings covered in graffiti while gangster-wannabes hounded the corners of the local quickie-marts.  
  
The police had all but ceased to exist; the few humans that attempted to patrol were harassed, beaten, and taunted ceaselessly. As a result, the Youkai grew in number, and the unruly teens grew into unhappy adults, and the Revolution began.  
  
They had waited quietly for a long time before they erupted. Youkai far and wide conversed with each other in secret, waiting for a time of human vulnerability. They weren't kept waiting for long.  
  
Pollution has long since raged across the countryside, and was no new news to the average Joe. Granted, there were a few outbursts over the ugly mottled gray the sky had become, as well as the increasing amounts of acid rain in city-areas, but all in all nobody was that concerned over the matter.  
  
They did not know the pollution would be their undoing.  
  
Trees already were sparse; books were stored on computers, disks. Paper? Shipped to the Venus colonies, where the abnormally rich went to live when they found Earth's inconveniences intolerable. Wooden furniture? Practically extinct. Finally, a short burst of extremely toxic acid rain ruined the last few crops of trees on the planet, in Tibet. As time marched forward, people began to look to the skies in fear as the acid rain increased in toxicity and amount. Eventually, it reached a point where any simple precipitation that fell from the sky burned anything short of metal and stone. The ends of the Earth became inhospitable, for although snow existed still, there, it could not be touched. As a result, the bulk of humanity moved towards the Equator.  
  
It was a far cry from the meager beginnings of the Youkai when by fluke it was discovered that the acid rain had no effect on their tough skin. Youkai Districts lifted their heads in unison to the skies and howled a song of fury, pain, and revenge, a need to return to themselves the glory they once felt hundreds of years before.  
  
And so the horror began.  
  
=======================================  
  
The war had been long and arduous, the battles short and brutal. The Youkai felt the tug of the instincts they thought lost as they entered into combat, dodging almost effortlessly the human attacks. The humans retaliated through biological weapons of an insane caliber, wiping out masses of Youkai in one blow.  
  
In spite of their best efforts, however, the Youkai prevailed, driven by animal instinct and fiery wrath.  
  
======================================  
  
The screams, the pain, the glee-riddled howls haunt me to this day. I had been but a child when the war started, but my innocence and naivete had not saved me from the drafts. Every human, no exceptions, was expected to march bravely into battle, most likely to serve as barriers for the more experienced warriors that hid behind with artillery.  
  
Luckily or unluckily for me, when the time came to assign me, I was saved just barely from the certain death of straightforward combat. My place in the war was that of a spy, a child one. I had a simple job, really, not one that involved much spy-work at all. I was in charge of carrying messages, often coded, as well as a few jobs of information-collecting. My naturally thin frame allowed me to get into tight spaces; my ruthless training ensured I could get wherever I needed to be. As I grew older, I became less of a messenger and more of an actual spy.  
  
Now, I am a high-ranking member of the human Rebel army.  
  
The War is done, but the endless conflict between the humans and Youkai has only just begun. A new army is forming underground, one of humans, of which I belong. Humans in general have been either killed like cattle or demeaned to slavery. Most of the few free humans were in constant hiding as leaders of the army. The others were favored among the Youkai and walked freely among them, for reasons known but not discussed. The main reason for these privileges was that these humans betrayed their own race at the beginning of the War. As the humans slowly gathered a rebellion, however, we learned that these select few intelligently switched their allegiance over to us. We are disgusted, but it would be foolish of us to resist their assistance.  
  
I am still a spy, and I am quite good at my work, among the best. I can form myself into any identity, can glean information from any target. I am the most sought-after undercover agent in the entire Rebel army. I am the sole person able to fit into a tightly-knit Youkai society and not draw suspicion to myself. I alone can freeze my heart against those that would dare care for me, and I alone hold the best hand in the army, for it is I that chooses which side knows what.  
  
My many nicknames range from the Black Fox to the Blue-eyed Phantom.  
  
But I am commonly called Kagome.  
  
Swear to the swears, I will continue this fic. I will, I will, I will. I suppose I don't seem so bad, since I'm using a new name now, but I have so many unfinished fics and I WON'T DO THAT ANYMORE! Arrugh! Happy Reading! 


	2. Whispers of Innocence

WOOO! Second Chappy UPPP! I'm on a roll!  
  
Falls On Me  
  
Chapter One: Whispers of Innocence  
  
I slowly awaken to an empty room, the same room I've had for the past three years, when I came here at the age of fifteen. It holds only a bed, a dresser, and a nightstand with a lamp. The closet at the back of the room is largely ignored. It houses a secret passageway in the case of an emergency, but I've little cause to believe any such emergency will happen upon here.  
  
The Rebel army houses itself underground. Literally. Office cubicles line the sewers, bedrooms inhabit the catacombs of buried and forgotten cities. After the Youkai takeover, a good deal of human settlement was demolished, cemented over, and rebuilt for themselves.  
  
Not one to rise late, I swing my feet off the bed, the comfortable and well- worn woolen blanket tangled about my legs. I smooth my bangs out of my face out of habit; the rest of my hair is up in a high ponytail. My legs squeal as I push myself into movement, and I accommodate them by grabbing a pull- up bar near my bed and stretching extensively. Relaxed, I release my grip on the bar and start towards my dresser.  
  
The dresser has a mirror, although it has a long crack going down the middle of it. Once upon a time there was a great many pictures adorning its surface, memories of my other life. Now, a single, tiny photograph in a frame too large for it sits resentfully at the very edge of sleek wood. It's on the verge of falling off, and before I can get a good look at it, I shove it facedown.  
  
It is my family. I am there, in the picture, as well. A child of four, untainted by either the government or puberty. My mother is a beautiful, modestly smiling woman, her eyes warm despite how tired she obviously is from taking care of my infant brother Souta, four years younger than I. My father is a goofy-looking man in glasses, not handsome but possessing some quality that draws people to him. I think it's in his smile, his gentle, humorous grin.  
  
Last of all is Souta, in my mother's arms, an infant who paused in his squalling to look with wide-eyed interest at the camera. His eyebrows are drawn together and his lower lip protrudes in the tell-tale signs of another round of screaming.  
  
Ahh, Souta. You had been so innocent.  
  
Shaking myself gently from the memories before I got too deep to pull myself out, I raise my gaze to the mirror itself. Staring back at me is a younger version of my mother. Except less vibrant. I have icy blue eyes as opposed to her warm brown ones. My face isn't full and rosy-cheeked. My cheekbones are high and sharply in contrast with my starving face, my hollowed eyes and cheeks.  
  
I haven't eaten in a long time, and even my many muscles are starting to weaken. We can only eat when food can be smuggled in, and I've heard that a shipment was coming in today.  
  
Invigorated by this hope, I quickly pull on faded jeans and a baggy T- shirt, putting my dagger at my hip more as a habit than a precaution. I stay barefoot; shoes are hard to come by, and to wear out the ones I have on trips within our own base seems idiotic.  
  
I shoulder open the door while I pull on my shirt. As I start my ascent up the steep stairs to the commonrooms, I forget to look down at where I'm going. I trip. I hear a squeal.  
  
Catching myself on a stair a few steps above myself, I growl lowly in irritation and kick the foolhardy rat that felt it could rest on the stairs. Its nearly dead already from the weight I put on it; its ribcage is completely squashed and its limbs struggle weakly to run away from the pain. The rat continues to squeal in agony, and I feel the shifting tides of pity inside me.  
  
After killing the thing via chopping its head off with my dagger, I toe it off the stairs and continue upwards.  
  
"Kagome-chan!" yelled a girly yet strong voice.  
  
Not even bothering to suppress a smile, I turn to face one of the few people I've known since childhood. Sango.  
  
"Sango-chan!" I exclaim with equal delight. "Back from your assassination already?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, it was easy-peasy," Sango waved it away a bit smugly, then started in on the details of her mission.  
  
Sango and I had come from the same town as children. She had always been athletic, and when the drafts arrived she was automatically chosen as an assassin. My job came upon me because of my litheness and grace, as well as my ability to blend in. After being separated for nearly five years for training, we found each other again at the peak of the war. Luckily, we had been stationed in the same regiment, our missions closely linked.  
  
Although we hadn't seen each other in a while and had been shocked to find how much we had changed, we immediately bonded as only those that knew each other when younger could. She was assigned to kill a powerful Youkai named Tenoru, and I was to provide the means for her to do so.  
  
As children, we hadn't really been the best of friends. She had her own friends and I had mine, but because we lived near each other, all of us banded together during playtime. After meeting up again during the war, we were all but inseparable.  
  
Our superiors, either recognizing our unwillingness to leave the other or sensing that we worked rather well together, kept us in the same regiment and often paired us with each other.  
  
She is among the best in her trade, as I am in mine. She has earned her own handful of nicknames, but since assassins work best when their face is not seen, some of these cannot be properly attributed to her. Among the Rebels, some of us like to teasingly call her the Crimson Widow, after an old fable of a war-widow gone homicidal.  
  
We crest the stairs and slowly I realize that she's stopped talking, but is looking ahead, her eyes dancing with excitement. I follow her along on her line of vision until I see it, and my heart jumps. In unison, we both squeal, then rush side-by-side to the food truck.  
  
Two burly looking men and a sickly thin man step from the cabin of the truck, then grin leisurely at us in a way that only truly stupid men can. One of the burly men tips his baseball cap at us, his smile like that of a large puppy.  
  
"Sorry, ma'am. Ma'am," he tipped his hat to the both of us, and I notice that we are the only ones here. "We'se a bit later 'n usual, on account o' we got ourselves held up by them Youkai 'thorities. Hope ya'll haven't been too hungry."  
  
I glare somewhat coldly at the well-meaning man, and Sango hurriedly speaks to cover up for my rudeness. "We've been quite alright, don't worry about us." She offers the three men a smile.  
  
I roll my eyes at the niceties and start in on the food. A lot of it is canned, and whatever bread there is looks half-moldy. The rice, however, is stored well and looks like it'll keep, and I nod approvingly at the men, who relax.  
  
The sickly thin man takes his straw hat from his head and bows clumsily to us. "Welp, then, we'll just git them there foods an' stuff up to the storage."  
  
"You do that. I'll report to the General of your arrival, and see to it that you three have some ample rooms to recuperate in for your stay here. How long are you staying?" my manner is brusque, my words clipped.  
  
The large puppy of a man that had tipped his hat earlier smiled at me and Sango... particularly at her, I noticed. She did too, for she started to look uncomfortable at his childish worship. "We'se only gonna stay about 'nother week or so... we'se gots to get them food to the otha' colonies and such."  
  
"Very well. Sango, if you'll address the General and inform him...?" I raise my eyebrows mockingly at her, and she gives me a grateful glance as she nods and quickly exits the room, the large lummox staring after her with the look of an abandoned child. I speak lowly to him, smiling in what I knew was far too gentle for me. "What is your name?"  
  
He looks startled, as if he had forgotten I was there, then replied shyly, "Manten..."  
  
(Author's note: Manten is in no ways related to the Thunder Brothers. I just needed a name.)  
  
"Well, Manten, tell you what. I'll save you a seat near me and Sango, alright?" I couldn't help it; the combination of his child-like innocence and Sango's squirming made it too impossible to resist.  
  
He brightened immediately, and I felt a pang of regret at using him just for my own entertainment, but it could not be undone now. He nodded rather a lot, much more than necessary, then fumbled off to help unload the truck.  
  
I grinned and shook my head slightly, then felt a slight pressure on my bottom. Feeling a sudden tic develop in my eyebrow, I punched the man behind me without so much as glancing at him.  
  
"...Ahh, Kagome-chan, you're irresistible when you are angry!" the black- haired man all but swooned. He looked like he'd gotten up in a hurry; his hair wasn't tied at the nape of his neck like usual.  
  
I raise a delicate eyebrow at him. "Miroku, why don't you go harass someone who wants your attention?" The words are scathing, but there is a lilt behind them that belies the initial rudeness. Miroku is another friend, and even when I'm angry I can't help but like him as such.  
  
He smiles adoringly at me, but even I know that he doesn't see me beyond friendship. His heart lies with Sango, although she's heavily annoyed by his wandering hands and wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole. "Kagome- chan!" he whines, "You're setting up my beloved with that food-truck- driver!"  
  
"I do not think your 'beloved' is in danger of falling under his charm. Or yours, either, for that matter," I jab at his ribs, a smile quirking the side of my mouth as he clutches at his "wound."  
  
"How can you treat me so? When one of such beauty can so openly insult me, my life is forfeit!" He slaps his palm to his heart, and sniffs fakely. He is rather melodramatic.  
  
"You buy the rope; I'll tie the noose for you!" I say lightly, walking towards the stair that leads to the cafeteria, my pace slowed to a stroll so he can walk with me comfortably.  
  
He throws his head back and laughs, and it strikes me how very handsome he is. He is more of a brother to me than a lover, however, so it is easy for me to simply accept his beauty and not be bothered by it. Sango seems to not want anything to do with him, and this only aids him in the fact that she is intrigued by his looks and charisma all the more. His laughter turns into a yawn as he reaches his hands behind his head to secure his hair there with a ponytail.  
  
"Tired, Miroku? I hope you haven't been up all night gambling again."  
  
"Why would I ever do such a thing? I am far too moral a being--"  
  
"How much did you lose?" I ask with a sigh and a shake of my head.  
  
He lowers his head in the manner of a chastised dog, a modest grin playing about his lips. "About eight hundred."  
  
I chuckle lowly, my eyelids fluttering shut for a moment as my ribcage shakes with silent laughter. "You have got to be the stupidest man alive," I admonish casually as my laughter abates.  
  
He winks taps the end of my nose. "Only when I'm in love!" he croons, then disappears into the crowds with a grin.  
  
Sango appears suddenly on the other side of me, and I realize that she had been waiting for Miroku to leave before coming to my side. She wrinkles her nose in the direction of his departure, her lips pressed in a thin line of harsh disapproval with my choice of acquaintances. "Honestly, 'Gome, how can you stand that man?" She looks almost comical, the way she pouts.  
  
I mumble with my eyes pointed upwards in an innocent fashion, "At least I only stand him! I'm sure you'd like to lay him."  
  
She gapes after me as I stride ahead of her, then howls in mock fury as she plants a playful punch to my shoulder. "ME? Lie with that horrible excuse for a human being?"  
  
"Aw, Sango-chan, you're so cute when you're denying your own feelings!"  
  
I see a glint of predatory-like mischief in her eyes, and take this as my cue to run. She chases me throughout the cafeteria, and people that we stumble into can only laugh at our behavior.  
  
"I am perturbed by this delay in food, Kagome. The very fact that the food supply was stopped by Youkai administrative officers is enough to make the hair at the nape of my neck stand on end."  
  
The tall, lithely built youth paused as he lit a cigar, then puffed on it contentedly as well as thoughtfully. I watch him pace a few steps behind his desk, aware of his hidden vulnerability. I lean back in my chair and watch him thoughtfully, my face expressionless. I can tell that this makes him uncomfortable.  
  
He leans over his desk, his hands spread slightly farther than shoulder width and his elegant fingers sprawled like mangled corpses after the heat of battle. "I know you tire of these useless excursions to the topside, 'Gome," the familiar nickname did not escape my attention, and I arched a brow at his sudden attempt at closeness, "But this is a delicate mission, and one that any other spy would fumble. The scouts I've sent out are half dead already, and whoever is left has sent information that the sudden awareness of our army is being taken into consideration by the highest Youkai there are.  
  
"I don't doubt your ability, of course, but I would understand completely if you feel the need to take any assistants along... sister-chan," he looked up at me to see what effect the close familial title would have. He was left disappointed.  
  
"General Souta, I am fairly confident in my abilities, and require none other than the contacts I shall be with topside," I said smoothly, although inside, I was wailing.  
  
Souta, you used to be so innocent, so beautiful in your naivete. How your smile lit the room.  
  
When he was drafted, I did not see him for many, many years. When he was returned to me, he was a grim young man who had killed many. Even now, few dared to fight him. He was strong, battle-hardened, and completely and utterly merciless.  
  
He did not wish for any of his superiors to know of our relation, and thus completely avoided me for a good two years. When he was made into a General of this base, however, I think he wanted a bit more of a connection between us. He would never receive it, however. I have no wish to become a sister to this... thing... anymore. I had barely been able to contain my happiness when I was first reunited with him, but his blunt coldness and his efficient killing had all but deadened him to me. Even Sango, assassin that she was, felt remorse over the lives she had taken.  
  
Souta was a wonderful strategist, among the best of the Generals despite his age. But he was also a monster.  
  
He looks mournful for a split second, and I wonder if my aloofness pains him. It is only what he deserves, I feel, but I know this to only be my sense of revenge talking. I wish him to feel the pain he inflicted upon me when he professed his un-love towards me.  
  
He slowly walks around his desk, and for a moment I catch a glimpse of a Souta I had long since forgotten... one that had cried over the death of a butterfly, caught in the web of a spider. Unshed tears dance along his eyelashes, and anything of revenge in me abates to a shallow flow and ebb.  
  
He holds his hands palm-up to me, a sign of his helplessness and his need for forgiveness. "Sister," he choked out. "I have missed you so. I am sorry for the way I treated you earlier; could you not forgive me? Could we not return to the way we were?"  
  
Inwardly, I sigh. I want to give in to him, but I know it cannot be. He cannot change back to the boy he had been. "General, we have had this conversation many times. Not only is it impossible, but I feel that any sort of relationship between us would not benefit us in any way." I stand, and look down on him, and I can't recognize him as the person from my warm, happy memories. His face is frozen, his lips perpetually unable to stretch into a smile.  
  
A single tear flows from his eye; a concession to the fact that he'll never be what he once was? A regret that he couldn't change the course of time? A wish, for another chance, perhaps? I shall never know.  
  
Unable to stifle the sisterly feelings that rise up in me, I allow my expression to thaw and my eyes take on a warmth, not for him, but for the memories of what he once was. I cup my hand to his cheek, and I see a spark of hopefulness in his eyes, will I forgive him?  
  
When he sees my apologetic expression, his face falls.  
  
I feel the warmth of his cheek slide out from under my palm as his knees buckle underneath him and he slides into a sitting position, leaning on his desk. Tears rush forth, the tears of a million years being pent up, the tears of the damned, the tears of the not forgiven.  
  
As I exit his office quietly, I hear stifled sobs, and I am just barely able to make out the words.  
  
"Mama... mama..." he calls to our dead mother over and over, and I freeze just a few feet down the hall. I want so badly to return to him, to comfort him.  
  
I steel myself against the need. It cannot be.  
  
I whisper to the dimly lit concrete hallways, as an uncanny breeze picks up. I know it to be from the direction of the ruins, where the cement that was covering the city had fallen through.  
  
"Oh, Souta... why did it have to be this way?" My words are carried along a timeless breeze, swept away to the forces of the Nevernever. As Souta's agonized cries subside into moist sobs, I force my legs to carry me back to my room, my bare feet slapping along the pavement.  
  
I am immune to the cold kiss of the cement beneath my feet.  
  
A/N! Woah. Am I just... just... morbid or what? Poor Souta... Poor, poor Souta! I want to cuddle him so much! ANYhoo! Happy reading! 


	3. Over the Broken Wall

Dang, I'm on SUCH a roll. Congratulate me! I'm the best! Wooo!  
  
Falls On Me  
  
Chapter Two: Over the Broken Wall  
  
I school my face into unhurried friendliness as I enter the cafeteria for lunch. I spot Manten hiding in the corner, and I see him grin and wave frantically in my direction. I respond with a smile and a gesture for him to join me.  
  
As I sit on one side of Sango, I spot Miroku heading for the vacant seat on the other side. Manten is also heading for this spot.  
  
Miroku is smiling, unaware of his competition. Manten, noticing Miroku, gets a look akin to panic on his face and speeds up. This action gains the awareness of Miroku, who looks momentarily shocked. I chuckle to myself as Miroku's eyes narrow and he picks up the pace.  
  
Both are within fifteen feet of Sango, who is eating, happily ignorant of what is going on around her. As she takes a bite of her sandwich, Manten takes a flying leap into the seat, just barely beating Miroku, who runs into him. As the collision takes place, Manten goes heavily into Sango, who now suddenly finds her sandwich against her forehead. Her mouth, still open for the bite she's not going to get, makes her look absolutely comical.  
  
I double over and turn to hide my face as laughter overtakes me.  
  
Sango is storming next to me, and I am loping along casually with my hands thrust in my pockets and whistling. She still has mustard on her forehead. When we reach the bathroom, she whirls towards the sink and glares at my reflection.  
  
"I can't believe you did that!" she vents crazily. "Are you trying to make my life miserable?"  
  
"Hey, don't blame me for your beauty, Sango-chan. Males just can't help themselves!" I make kissy-kissy faces at the mirror, and am rewarded with a face full of soap. Laughing, I start to scrub the soap off. "Sango, you should be flattered! Males are falling all over themselves to grovel at your feet!"  
  
I most definitely don't envy her position, but I pout at her anyway.  
  
She grumbles to herself softly in the mirror as she wipes the essence of sandwich off her forehead. "Don't know why they're not crawling after you, you're much prettier than I am...."  
  
I roll my eyes at her. She is by far the prettier of us two, even more so at this moment because of the starving condition of my face. I don't argue, however, because I know that's not what she wants to hear. Mentally, I shrug. Sometimes, I envy her beauty, but at times like these I am grateful that she takes most of the attention.  
  
I mean, like all people, I want to be beautiful. Sango is the very essence of beautiful, but I am merely pretty. The most appealing thing about Sango is that she's attractive without even trying, and sometimes I think I get jealous of her. When I get jealous, occasionally, I am overcome with an overwhelming need to cause her pain. I always manage to get over it before I do anything to her, however. My friendship is more important to me in the long run.  
  
She towels off her face at the same time as me, and her good humor gets the best of her as she grins at me, finally seeing the hilarity of the situation. I wonder if she knows I get jealous of her, but I think she must. Even though she'll never say so out loud, she knows how she shines compared to me. She looks at me with frank admiration for a few moments, then murmurs quietly,  
  
"What I wouldn't give to have your eyes, Kagome-chan."  
  
I raise both my eyebrows slightly, not at the compliment, but at how it is given with the utmost sincerity. "My polar-ice-cap eyes? Do you know how long I've wished to have eyes like yours, the color of melted chocolate?"  
  
The moment is lost as I tease her, and she stops looking at me with longing and quirks her mouth to the side in that way she does when she's annoyed but amused. "Melted chocolate? I beg to differ! My eyes more resemble compo- -"  
  
She is interrupted suddenly when the bathroom door slams open. Kaede, an old woman in her early fifties with an eye patch, leans in with worry printed over her features. She whispers harshly at the two of us, as if afraid of being heard.  
  
"We're under ambush! Youkai are swarming the broken wall!" she refers to the area that caved in.  
  
Sango drops her towel, and I try to keep myself calm although I can't help but feel panic jolt uncomfortably through my limbs. I quickly exit the bathroom, and I hear Sango hurriedly run after me. I take on a business- like tone, but both of us can hear the quavering in it.  
  
"Sango, go to your room and get your weapons. I'll find General Souta."  
  
This has never happened before. How did the Youkai catch wind of our location? My mind quickly filters through everything that could have gone wrong as I jog towards Souta's quarters.  
  
Suddenly, my mind clicks on something and holds there, like a broken record. The food truck.  
  
"On account o' we'se got hold up by them Youkai 'thorities." Manten. Manten said that. Oh Kami.  
  
"They bugged the food truck!" I whisper furiously to myself. Of course, why hadn't I thought of that before? It seems so obvious now, and I am torn between getting as quickly as I can to Souta and kicking myself.  
  
Damn it! I hear footsteps around the corner, and they're too lightfooted and cautious to be any of the Rebels. I duck into the first door I find, and look around the room. It's a vacant room, as are most of the rooms near the offices. My mind ticks off that the office-area is now off limits, the Youkai have swarmed there already. As the footsteps get closer, I quietly duck into the closet. As I enter the hidden passageway, I hear the door to the room slam open.  
  
My quickened but still silent barefoot footsteps carry me to the deeper catacombs of the old city. Since the Youkai have swarmed much of the base, I know that whatever humans are left will meet there. I can't see ahead of me, but my feet know where the steps are. Occasionally, I lose my balance as my foot encounters a part of the stair that is broken off, but I quickly regain it and keep on.  
  
As I enter a dimly lit large room, all weapons are trained on me. As they see that it is I, the Rebels sigh in relief and lower their artillery. I seek out Sango and see her rushing towards me, along with Miroku. General Souta seems calmer at my presence, as this means that I can still continue with my future mission.  
  
"Kagome. The Youkai are all over the base. They haven't found the underground passages yet," Sango whispers to me, her face wrought with worry. Unlike me, Sango cannot really hide her emotions. "And I didn't have enough time to get my weapons!"  
  
Miroku catches up to her, and for once Sango doesn't seem to openly dislike his presence. "Our numbers are badly depleted, 'Gome-chan."  
  
I could tell that much just by looking about the room. I nod at him to continue.  
  
"Souta has been receiving messages lately, from other bases. The Youkai have been attacking supposedly secret bases, and there is much speculation on whether or not there is a traitor in our midst."  
  
I think for only a split second; in my area of expertise, I have to be able to think and decide quickly. "What of the original Youkai-supporters?"  
  
Miroku shakes his head, "We thought that too, but... they've been brutally killed. By the Youkai."  
  
I just barely manage to gain control over myself before I smash my fist into a wall. My knuckles bleed from the contact, but I can hardly feel it as I groan hoarsely, "Fuck."  
  
The room falls silent, and I look up to see that Souta has raised his hands for out attention. He talks loud, but not too loud. We can't risk the Youkai hearing and finding us.  
  
"The plans we have been pursuing recently shall still be enacted. The spy Kagome will enter the household of the Youkai Sesshoumaru as his servant, and Sango and her team of assassins will continue forth with the plans to assassinate Naraku. Miroku, you are to be the servant to one of our Youkai allies, who will enter the household periodically. You will serve as a contact to Kagome.  
  
"Half of us will move to the other base beneath this city, the larger one. It is deeper underground and has not been found. You will not be able to pack, and any clothing you need will be provided as best as possible once we reach there. The other half, who will be chosen according to their stealth, will stay here and try to salvage as much from the attack as possible. It might be that the Youkai will stick around, so be sure to make your errands quick and to the point.  
  
"You are to gather only weapons, clothing, and food. Pictures and other sentimental items will be left behind. For tonight, we will sleep here. You may all retire, now.  
  
"Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and all of Sango's team, please follow me." With that, Souta turned on his heel and walked briskly to an opening in the large cavern.  
  
Upon following, we realized that it just opened into a smaller cavern. At closer inspection, Souta seemed visibly shaken by the attack. He turned to us wearily. Sango's team stood behind her, except for her brother Kohaku, who stood at her side. Kohaku seemed to have trouble not shedding tears.  
  
He gestured to me, a far more tired movement of his hand than his usual elegance. "Kagome, we have already completed the paperwork necessary for you to enter Sesshoumaru's household, luckily, and all that we need to do is move you to the other base to properly prepare you. Miroku will accompany you. Miroku's 'master,' Shippou, will meet you there. I implore you not to make fun of his age, as his loyalty to us is important."  
  
He then turned to Sango and her crew. "You six will stay here for as long as is necessary for you to scrounge together what you need for your mission, then you will make your way to the East and to Naraku's current household. There is a hanyou there, InuYasha, that will be your contact, as well as your 'in' to the Naraku's household. He will be visiting there, and all of you will be his entourage. He will give you further instructions when you meet him.  
  
"You will also bring along Harper," he finished, his hand flickering towards a falcon perched at the far end of his makeshift office.  
  
The falcon's purpose was to carry messages to the base of their progress. Harper was among the best, and from what I could see, only he and Tenor, a young female still in training, was salvaged from the attack.  
  
Souta collapses into a chair behind a grimy and dusty desk that had been left down here in the case of such an emergency. "You may go," he mumbles absently.  
  
I linger for a second longer than the rest, but Souta had turned his chair away from the door and was cradling his forehead in both his palms. I look at him for a moment, and his vulnerability makes an image sprout behind my eyes, of a younger Souta on his first trek to the grocery store. He had begged to accompany me, and my mother gave me that look and I knew I was being forced to have him tag along.  
  
Stifling the ache in my eyes that foreshadows a bout of crying, I turn slowly and pad softly out of the cavern.  
  
I rifle through the emergency rations and equipment in the catacombs, dusty with neglect. Sango is beside me, methodically searching through the weapons. Most of what I'll be needing is provided for me top side, such as clothing, but in order to make it there I'd need a few packs of the food.  
  
I toss some hardtack into a backpack. Hardtack is a tasteless lump of extremely hard cracker-like substances. Utterly disgusting, but you do what you have to do.  
  
"Shit. There aren't ANY blades in here. None. Zip. Zero," Sango growled, shoving a heavy auto-machine gun to the side of the alcove.  
  
"Ah, that's right, you can't use the guns when you're undercover. Here." I handed her my dagger, and she slipped it up her sleeve with a flick of her wrist.  
  
Setting a package of hardtack to her right to put into her backpack for later, she glances at me. "You won't be needing it?"  
  
"I can get another one."  
  
Souta strode out of his make-shift office, seemingly composed once more. His hands are clasped behind his back as he approaches Sango and I, and his jaw is set to match the hardness of his eyes. "I'm sending Kohaku and Meri- Meri up to scavenge. Anything in particular you need?"  
  
Sango looked fleetingly alarmed at Kohaku going up into a swarming mass of Youkai, but pursed her lips instead of arguing. "Blades. Of any sort. And holsters for them."  
  
I immediately thought 'Decent food, you moron,' but managed to stay silent as I shook my head.  
  
"Right, then. Kagome, prepare to go through the North Tunnel with Miroku. As you reach top side, go to Shavasanah City. At the Southern outskirts will be Miroku's temporary 'master,' Shippou. He will brief you on your information target and take you to Lord Sesshoumaru's house as a 'present.'  
  
Shippou is a guest at Sesshoumaru's house frequently. Harper will be with Miroku, so you can relay information to the base that way.  
  
Sango, you will be bringing Tenor with you. You are to use her only in the case of an emergency, and no one outside of your immediate mission is to see her. When you have either assassinated Naraku or you've been discovered, send Tenor ahead of you and start back to the Base immediately. That's all. Oh, and Sango, you'll be leaving tomorrow. I'm sorry for the sudden change of plans, but we simply don't have the time to scrounge for what we need here; the passages are too easily found."  
  
We both grimly nod our understanding and turn to each other with a sigh as Souta hurries off to talk to Miroku and Sango's team.  
  
"I can't believe he's sending one of my team up there to get potentially wounded! What is he thinking?" she rants, panicked. She rubs her arms with her hands, looking worriedly around to discover that Kohaku had already gone.  
  
I dumped some more hardtack into the pack for Miroku, knowing full well that he'd be too preoccupied to make his own. "Listen, I know he's your brother, but he's also one of the quietest, quickest people on the base. He's the best for the job, and he's terribly embarrassed when you're over- protective about him."  
  
She stands jerkily, rubbing the dirt off of her knees with a few quick strokes. "I know. I know. But he's only fifteen; I can't help but worry about him." She picks up her pack, then mine as I stand and brush off my pants. "Anyway. I have to go get changed."  
  
"Yeah, me too. Good luck, hey?" I relieve her of my pack as and clap my hand to her shoulder. "No getting killed, got it?"  
  
She clapped her own palm to my shoulder, smiling into my eyes. "You got it."  
  
And suddenly I am struck by the perfect symmetry of our stance, but it's lost as she drops her hand from my shoulder and walks off with a small wave. Pocketing my hands, I nod at her as my pack slides from my shoulder to my elbow uncomfortably.  
  
An elbow suddenly appears from nowhere and rests on my shoulder. I look behind me to see none other than Miroku, looking after Sango with a semi- serious expression on his face. As his eyes focus on me, he lets his grimness fade and grins brightly. "Ready to go, lovely?"  
  
"Yep. Packed you some hardtack."  
  
"Disgusting."  
  
"I know."  
  
A cloud of dusts rises behind us, bidding us a solemn farewell.  
  
A/N AAAAAAAACKK... I found this on my hard drive MONTHS after I originally started!! Anyhoo... uhm... hate to do this, but Kohaku dies SOBSOBSOB!!! I can't believe it myself... but I guess I'm sorta following some of the original story? Comment, please? 


	4. Ascending the Dark

Woopie! I'm on, like... a roll or something! I AM SO ON THE BALL!  
  
So, without further ado... ONWARD.  
  
Falls On Me  
  
Chapter Three: Ascending the Dark  
  
The tunnel is so dark I doubt I could have even seen a foot in front of me with a flashlight. The walls are too grimy to use as a guide, and something decidedly crunchy was underfoot.  
  
It's a good thing, however, that we don't need light. The tunnel's straight all the way to the end, so all you have to do is make sure you don't walk back-ass-wards.  
  
"'Gome, gimme some hardtack, will you?"  
  
"You just had some."  
  
I sensed a vague annoyance from where Miroku's voice was emanating from. "I know that. I'm hungry."  
  
"It won't last us the trip if you keep scarfing it," I mutter, matching his annoyance. I trip over something and stumble, then fall. When I'm on the floor, even I'm horrified to discover that the crunching things were rat bones. I may be a tough guy, but even I have limits. These limits include rat carcasses. A ribcage pushes into my palm as I push myself off of the floor, grimacing. "Ugh...."  
  
Miroku's footsteps stop somewhere ahead of me. "Are you okay? Where are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, I just fell. There's rat bones down here." It gets better! Yay!  
  
There's a shocked silence, and a small crunch. "Gross!" he squeals, his voice fluctuating madly. Miroku has a slight phobia of rodents.  
  
I roll my eyes, only to realize he can't see them anyway. "Don't be such a girl, Miroku!"  
  
"I'll be whatever I want!" he snaps at me, his voice laced with paranoia. I can almost see him looking around wildly, panicked.  
  
Our camp is in the tunnel, in a self-made clearing amidst the rotting rat corpses. A fire blazes in the center, and Miroku is dangerously close to burning his eyebrows off.  
  
"I don't think the dead rats are going to eat you," I say amusedly, a small smirk playing at the corner of my mouth as he shoots me a dirty look.  
  
"Shu'up, 'Gome. I hate rodents. Hate them," he repeats to himself, looking at the circle of bones.  
  
The pot of water starts to bubble, and I dump some disgusting hardtack into it to make into an equally disgusting mushy substance, not bothering to start a debate with Miroku's subconscious away-message self on the subject of rats.  
  
"Hate them," he mumbles to himself. As if he needs reminding.  
  
"Look, forget about the rats and eat your mush."  
  
His face lights up in a sarcastic grin. "Oh, wondrous, something I can look forward to! I think I can add this to my big, long list of super duper things that have happened to me today!" With that remark, his face immediately descends into a sulky expression as he spoons his mush into his mouth, glaring at a rat skull suspiciously and using the plastic bowl as the brunt of his unhappiness.  
  
Tossing my dirty disposable dish over my shoulder into the darkness of the tunnel, I rub my forehead as I roll out my sleeping bag. "Look, are you going to mumble at your dead rats all night or what?"  
  
This earns me a bowl in the face. It bounces off of my nose and onto my bag. "'Gome! I don't think you realize how serious of a phobia this is! I think I might start hyperventilating any second now!"  
  
My nose wrinkles involuntarily as I bat the dish off of my bag and crawl into it. "Oh, yes, I know exactly how serious it is. Now, go to sleep or the Bogeyman will eat your toes," I tell him in a motherly fashion.  
  
He attempts to smother me with his sleeping bag, forcing me to fend him off with the mush-covered wooden spoon. I manage to get some on his face before he lets off me.  
  
"Hey, hey! If you kill me, who's gonna get the info from the great, big, scary youkai, hm?"  
  
Miroku comments dryly, "Oh, how will we ever live without you."  
  
"I can't help it if I'm charismatic."  
  
He shoves the bag onto my face again, and I swing wildly about with the wooden spoon. He releases me and pokes me in the nose. "If I wasn't so scared of facing ghost-rats alone, you'd be so incredibly gone right now."  
  
I bite my lip to keep from smiling. "Whatever you say, Twinkle Toes."  
  
"Grah! Ghost-rats actually look good next to you!" he panicked, waving his arms about and whimpering as he realizes he got just a little to close to the edge.  
  
I feign hurt, making my lower lip wobble and everything. I'm a very good actor, especially when I put my mind to it. "How can you say that to me?" For a little extra oomph, I make as if I'm wiping away tears.  
  
Scoffing, he turns to look at his sleeping spot critically, toeing a rat arm away from it with an air of disgust. "Trust me, it's easier than it may seem at first."  
  
I chuckle and turn towards the fire on my side, hiding my grin in my sleeping bag. "Alright, alright. We need to get some shut-eye. I'm setting my watch alarm to 4 AM, 'kay?"  
  
He unrolls his sleeping bag and shoves himself into it. He's the kind of guy who would put on gloves and fumble so much it would look like he had twelve fingers. This lack of grace extends to the fashion in which he puts on his sleeping bag. "Right-ee-o, lovey!"  
  
I stare into the dark outside of the fire until I blink a bit longer than I intended.  
  
I'm jolted to awareness by a beeping. Grumbling to myself, I shake my head to wake myself up and focus on figuring out where the noise is coming from. Oh. Right. Watch. Fuck. I slap at it until it shuts up, then force myself awake enough to kick Miroku and stoke the fire so we can get camp packed up.  
  
He mumbles something about feminine body parts and rolls over. I kick him harder.  
  
"OW! Oh my Kami, Stephanie! Not so rou-- what the hell?" His dark head pokes out of the sleeping bag as he takes me in with what seems like a little too much disappointment.  
  
"Sorry, no Stephanie here. Wake up."  
  
"'Gome? What--? ... Oh. Fuck."  
  
"Yes, I know," I reassure him soothingly as I stoke the fire a bit more.  
  
Stretching he yanks himself out of his sleeping bag without anything even remotely resembling elegance. He yawns widely and scratches his stomach as he looks at the camp with half-lidded eyes.  
  
"Hey, think you can actually help or something?" I ask irritably. I mean, jeesh. I'm here, doing all this work, and the best he can muster is to scratch his stomach? "Not that I don't appreciate all the moral support I bet you're sending at me."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it. I need wake-up time. Got any coffee?"  
  
I roll my eyes exaggeratedly and start rolling up my sleeping bag, unrolling it halfway once so I can roll it up again tighter.  
  
"Guess that's a 'no.'"  
  
I keep ignoring him as I pointedly start packing up the pots. He raises his hands in surrender and finally goes about rolling up his sleeping bag, although he's a lot slower than he should be. He pauses every twenty seconds to yawn, comment on the time, and lament at me about coffee.  
  
After we get camp packed up, we scuff dirt onto the fire to put it out. We leave the site, ashes in a circle of bones. Looks like a Pagan ritual thing.  
  
"So, when do we get out of the tunnel?" he asks, yawning in the midst of "tunnel."  
  
I check the time quickly and fidget with the shoulder straps of my pack irritably. "Early afternoon."  
  
"Shit."  
  
Can't say I don't agree.  
  
Time passes in the outside world, leaving the tunnel of darkness untouched. Dust settles in our footsteps, the breath of dead rat whispers through our hair.  
  
I forget what breathing is.  
  
Miroku suddenly stops dead. "Dear God! I can see light! It's the light at the end of the fucking tunnel!" He releases a howl of joy and runs straight towards the speck off in the distance, waving his arms around frantically as if to keep the light from leaving or something.  
  
God, damn it. I run, too, to keep up. "Will you hold your horses? The opening's not going anywhere!"  
  
After an hour of jogging, we get close enough to the sunlight to see vague silhouettes of each other. Unable to restrain myself, I grin at him. It's as if, after being cooped up in the tunnel for so long, we're emerging from the depths of Hell to the beauties of Earth, short only of Paradise itself. Miroku returns the grin ecstatically. He feels it too, he's just not articulate enough to put it into words like I can.  
  
As we get closer to the daylight, the corpses start becoming sparse. Eventually, we're just walking on rocks again. The perverted spy hooks his elbow around mine and starts skipping, singing loudly in the worst British accent I'd ever heard. Dragged along, I feel my spirits lift as my feet start skipping despite my clear-cut orders not to.  
  
"I know you're happy to get out of here, but do you think you could tone your unrestrained joy a little bit and pay attention?" a crisp voice asks from the opening, scathing.  
  
I stop dead where I am and reach for my dagger, which, consequently, is no longer there. Miroku half-skips a few steps without me before skidding to a stop, pulling a switchblade from his pocket.  
  
The stranger puts his hands above his head so we can see from his silhouette that he's not armed. "Relax, O Joyous People of the Sewers, I'm here as an ally. Shippou couldn't make it, so I'm the in-between, got it?"  
  
I stride forward and in a few steps am near enough to the opening to discern his face. He's smirking, and his golden eyes are topped with eyebrows in a mocking expression. His white hair grazes his waist easily, if not longer. "And you are?" I ask coldly, bitingly.  
  
"InuYasha, tone down, bitch," he growls warningly at me.  
  
"What did you say?" my voice rises without my consent, and I'm shocked. I can feel Miroku's shock as well at my behavior. Suddenly, something in my mind clicks. "Aren't you supposed to be meeting Sango and her team?"  
  
He drops his sneer and looks thoughtful, if that's even possible. "The assassin? I'm heading over there tomorrow. Right now I'm bringing you to the brat." InuYasha holds his hand out to Miroku. "InuYasha. You seem like a relatively sane-looking person; could you tell your bitch to keep her voice down?"  
  
Miroku coughs with embarrassment, and gives me an apologetic look. "Ah, she's not my, ah... woman. She's the spy, Kagome. I'm Miroku."  
  
Incredulous looks from the most gorgeous golden eyes I've ever seen. "You're the spy? Good Kami, you're going to blow this one, aren't you?"  
  
I breathe deeply to regain my composure, closing my eyes momentarily. "You are making us late. Let's go."  
  
"You're the queen," he responds with a bow, and I resist the urge to kick him in the balls. "C'mon, follow me." He turns about on his heel abruptly, and I am sad to admit that I am reduced to making faces at his red kimono. Miroku wags a finger at me for a few moments before joining in.  
  
The tunnel looms behind us like a mouth. An eater of rats, it spits us out like diseased vermin. I am glad, for once, to be indigestible.  
  
A/N  
  
SORRY SORRY SORRY that's so short! The next chappy will be MUCH longer! I promise! ... Hum, the words just weren't FLOWING... I'm sure the next chapter will be better. ;;; R&R!! Happy Reading! 


	5. A Passage of Time

Alrighty, you lovely people, you. I have been made aware of this... paragraph- blocking-up problem, and done my best to fix it. It really annoyed me, me being the meticulous mechanics user I am. But ahoy.  
  
Falls On Me  
  
Chapter Four: A Passage of Time  
  
"You breath too hard," the thing-I'm-forced-to-call-my-companion intoned dully in my direction. We were climbing up a hill, and we had been trekking for hours. I think I'm bloody well allowed to breath hard. Besides, Miroku was red in the face and panting his ass off, and I'm "breathing too hard?"  
  
"Are you going to verbally attack me all day?" I bit out at him through gritted teeth.  
  
"Probably!" Miroku answered cheerfully, earning him a lump of hardtack to the head. He paused in his panting to give me a wounded look. "So cold, Kagome-san! So cold!"  
  
I tried to control the dull beating of the oncoming headache and focused on walking. I could feel It glaring at me from behind me, and I gritted my teeth even more. The headache increased. All throughout the past afternoon, the only nice thing he's said is, "You don't walk as funny as I thought you did." Other than that, he's been pretty much critiquing everything I've done.  
  
I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly yelled at me, "Hey! That tendon in your leg is uglier than a banana slug eating a pile of shit!" because that's basically all the ammo he'll have left before the day's gone.  
  
"Your ankles are dirty," he told me with mild disgust.  
  
That was it. The straw that broke the camel's back. I whirled on my heel to face him, and he damn near ran into me. What happened to those demon reflexes of his? Ha! "Look, you, I've been walking since yesterday when I realized that because of an impromptu invasion I was going to be denied soap, and now I've got a Neanderthalian lump and perverted monk-wannabe as a couple of companions and all you can manage verbally thus far is a few comments about my ankles and my breathing habits and frankly, I'm beginning to get irritated."  
  
He blinked at me in mild surprise for a few moments, then went on to tell me that I was in serious need of a Tic Tac or something, because "DAMN is your breath feisty."  
  
I felt something inside me give up and let go. It rattled about in me for a few moments before lying, dead, at the base of my mind. Before I knew what I was doing, I had him tackled. "I'm going to kill you!"  
  
I went for his throat, of course. After he recovered from his utter shock, he merely gave me one his bored looks and yawned pointedly. I increased the pressure even though I knew it would be pointless.  
  
"Kagome-chan! Hey! 'Gome!" I heard Miroku yelling at me, trying to pry me off of our evil companion. "Nothing can be gained by hurting InuYasha-san, you know."  
  
"Won't know until I try!" Miroku had picked me up, so I flailed uselessly at the white-haired wretch as he stood and brushed himself off. Sighing, Miroku merely flipped me over his shoulder like some sort of backpack and continued on his merry little way.  
  
I slammed my fists down onto his back. "You realize you'll grow exhausted in a few minutes, don't you?" I pointed out, using my index finger to help.  
  
"Yeah, Miroku, she's too fat for one person to be hauling around," InuYasha said knowledgeably, giving me a smirk. I struggled harder to get my hands around his throat again. InuYasha made a face at me, a mirror image of the one I'd been making at him earlier. Damn. He saw me.  
  
"Miroku, can I be let down now?" I was reduced to whining. Sad, but true. Miroku hadn't tired out; he'd been holding me over his shoulder for the past forty minutes or more. Amazed, I had waited to see how long he could last before becoming uncomfortably aware that being held in such a position was painful as hell. Especially with the demon InuYasha making faces at me.  
  
"Promise you'll be good?" he huffed cheerfully. A-ha! The weight was beginning to wear on him. Nevertheless, I felt bad for it.  
  
"Yes, yes, I'll be an angel. You'll be frightened of my incredibly awesome behavior," I insisted in my persistent wheedling tone, tracing little bunnies on his back with my finger. "InuYasha, you make some crack about being frightened of my face and you'll regret it."  
  
InuYasha, having opened his mouth a second before, snapped it shut sheepishly and gained a delightfully sullen look.  
  
Miroku let me down with a sigh of relief. "I was only able to make it because you've gotten so skinny!" Squeezing his eyes shut and wiping the sweat from his face, he sat down on a log right then and there, gathering his breath.  
  
"What...? Hey! Stupid! We need to keep moving or we'll never get there in time!" InuYasha yelled. Miroku steadfastly ignored him.  
  
"Y'know, a sit sounds good," I mused, then sat. Mostly for the satisfaction of pissing InuYasha off, but, for my favor, I was feeling a bit tired. InuYasha turned nearly purple in rage and yelled at us for a few minutes, then stomped off up a tree to sulk.  
  
Miroku closed his eyes and smiled as if experiencing a piece of paradise. I guess resting is rather underrated. At least for non-travelers.  
  
Finally able to breathe in a relaxed manner, I let myself fall back on the grass, staring up at the clouds. The sky was too bright for my puny eyes to handle, however, so I turned my attention on the trees instead. Birds, calling merrily to each other, flitted back and forth from branch to branch.  
  
My eyelids started feeling heavy, and my muscles, bit by bit, relaxed. For some reason, the absurd notion that InuYasha was there to protect us gave me just enough of a feeling of security to drift off into a sleep. The sun fell on my body and warmed me as I sank in and out of sleep-state, like the tide of dream carrying me to and fro from realities.  
  
I was rudely awakened by the Thing. It couldn't have been twenty minutes after I initially fell asleep, but the catnap was all I needed to rejuvenate me completely. Feeling chipper despite the fact that InuYasha was glowering at me and no doubt readying a few insults for future use, I smiled brightly at him as I got up. It stunned him, I know, because his jaw fell open. I love surprising people.  
  
Miroku was still in his catatonic state of what looked like meditation, but InuYasha had no qualms about shoving him back into reality. The demon was given a look of sheer annoyance that he obviously didn't register, because he shoved the priest again. "C'mon! We've been sitting here for half an hour; it's time to go."  
  
Taking his sweet time, Miroku stood and stretched amiably. InuYasha's eye developed a tic as Miroku's joyful stretching went on for a good couple of minutes. When he was finally done, he grinned at me and I gave him a thumbs up back.  
  
InuYasha, obviously put in a bad mood, walked ahead of us, leaving us to our conversations behind his back. We knew he could hear us, so I made sure to put in a few derogatory comments about him. Miroku simply smiled serenely whenever I made a stab at InuYasha's personality, looks, or behavior. Our jabs at each other evidently had little to no effect on him, except when it impeded our progress to Shavasanah City.  
  
The trek meandered along at an ant's pace, studious and perfected. The trail seemed to go on to infinity, despite what our common sense told us. The animals were aware of our presence, and took great pains, it seemed, to avoid us at all costs.  
  
The sun is a marker of the passage of time.  
  
Shavasanah City was finally before us, visible and beautiful to us dirty, worn travelers. Our destination within sight and the trail infallible, InuYasha (reluctantly, it looked) bid us farewell. He took off Eastward, to Sango and her party.  
  
"The General said to just wait on the Southern outskirts of the city, and Shippou would come to us," Miroku reminded me absently.  
  
"I know," I told him pointedly, telling him without words that my memory certainly wasn't as bad as he seemed to think it was. "I was there."  
  
He grimaced. "Sorry, sorry, force of habit to repeat orders every once in a while. You'll have to forgive me, Kagome-chan."  
  
"Forgiven," I told him flippantly, nodding once. "Well, let's go. I think we'll need to be a bit closer, don't you?" With that, I started for the high brick walls of the city. A Youkai city. He followed, and I knew he was smiling.  
  
The Youkai who greeted us was not what we were expecting. At all. A little boy of what looked to be five or six years old waited for us patiently on the outside of the wall, a few guards standing about him in a horseshoe formation. He had bright red hair and the cutest green eyes I had ever seen. His furry fox legs shook with excitement as he saw us.  
  
"They're here!" he exclaimed, running towards us. The guards gave each other pained looks and jogged after him.  
  
Miroku knelt down a bit. "You must be Lord Shippou."  
  
"Just Shippou, please. And you must be Kagome!"  
  
I coughed politely and gave an embarrassed look off to the side. Miroku gestured at me slightly. "No, that's her. I'm Miroku."  
  
Shippou's eyes widened in dismay. "I wanted you to be my servant!" he pouted. Flattering, but... no. I don't do servitude.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry," Miroku said apologetically. "But you'll have to do with me. She's the best spy we've got."  
  
I smiled down at the little fox demon warmly. "I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other, though, won't we?" I asked him. He nodded fervently, which I took to mean that'd he'd increase his visits to Lord Sesshoumaru's household. All the better. I felt safer with allies about, for some reason.  
  
"M'Lord," a guard cleared his throat pointedly, then nodded towards the wall of the city when Shippou glanced at him.  
  
"Of course!" Shippou yelled (an exuberant child, to say the least). "We need to get them clothes and stuff!"  
  
"And weapons, if you wouldn't mind," I reminded him gently. Children always brought out my mother's instinct. He beamed at me, which I took for another yes. Miroku gave me an amused look, to which I responded with a heady glare. He whistled innocently and folded his arms behind his back.  
  
Damn straight.  
  
The inside of the city was amazing. The outer walls were brown mud and cement, and seriously aesthetically impaired. But the inside was something resembling our old human cities way back when. Sure, it wasn't the high- tech utopias that seemed to be the norm for Youkai cities nowadays, but it was a definite improvement over the forests outside it.  
  
The first thing I did at Shippou's residency was take a long, beautiful bath. After that, Miroku and I donned servant's clothing and accompanied Shippou to a market area. There, he got us weapons and servant's clothing to the point of excess, and when he tried to buy me a ham I simply had to object. Politely, of course.  
  
Miroku didn't seem to be having this problem, however, and was asking for things left and right. Shippou, being without parents to guide his purchases, paid for everything. He was a generous kit, that was for sure. Too bad about his being an orphan, really.  
  
That night, I read Shippou some bedtime stories, at his insistence. I told him many times that I was horrible at telling stories, but he wouldn't hear of it. It got to the point where the guards were giving me threatening looks for forcing them to endure Shippou's whining, so I gave in.  
  
I didn't know any stories of my own, so Shippou gave me a book to read from. It had fairy tales in it. Very different, it being a Youkai fairy tale book, with lots of killing and harsh justice. A lot of the morals included "If you aren't subservient to your betters, your head will get chopped off," or something to that effect.  
  
I wasn't surprised when I went to bed with nightmares, but Shippou informed me cheerily the next day that he slept like a rock.  
  
Figures.  
  
A/N I know, horrifically short. I should be shot. But this is mostly just an interlude to the next chapter, where she gets a place in Sesshoumaru's household, so bear with me. 


End file.
